To LEED or not to LEED

[John Livengood]

If you are going to build a green house, seems like you'd want some sort of gold star for the effort, right? That's where I was coming from when we started our project. Of course -- why not?

LEED, developed by the US Green Building Council, is the gold standard. What started out as a means of encouraging, measuring and verifying
commercial building projects, it has since moved into residential
construction projects as well. I won't go into all of the details about
LEED, but it's a checklist-based system that offers guidance,
consulting, and how to lessen you building's impact on the environment
and create a healthier home in the long term. You, your architect, your
contractor and a LEED consultant work from checklists that guide you to
better choices. And then an independent verification and your home
becomes certified at whatever level it meets -- I believe the levels
are silver, gold and platinum.

Bottom line is I wasn't big on going after gold stars in school, and evidently I haven't changed much. We didn't go down this road. Looking at it, LEED accreditation seemed expensive and cumbersome.  There were
fees to pay, consultants to hire, and considerable extra time in
project management that would be needed by our contractor in order to
be in compliance. In the end, it seemed to me and my wife that what was
important was our intention. We figured that with every decision along
the way, we could look at our options, always ask the sustainability
questions about the proposed materials, look at alternatives, and make
the best decision we could, all things considered.

At the end of the project, I'm not sure we'll be able to look back and defintitvely answer the question, "how green is your home?" But who cares? Building a green home is a thousand shades of gray. We've
learned that, if nothing else. Some people could look at our project
and be impressed with the decisions we made and the lengths we've gone
to. Others could look at it and decide that we didn't go far enough.

If we were planning to turn around and sell the house, we might have made a different call so that we could have the LEED tools and certification to help us sell the house. But for us, all that really
matters is that we're satisfied with the decisions we made along the
way. And we are.

[lou maxon]

Agreed 100% on your sentiments. I found during the architect review process that some architects put LEED certification over the client (my wife and i) needs. LEED seemed overly cosmetic and surface level (architect=you need solar panels : client (me) : but i live in the forest? . In our particular case our architect had been doing sustainable work for years already and it had nothing to do with LEED. Sustainability means a lot to a lot of people and for us it was all about selecting materials and construction methods that would lead to actual energy savings and low to zero maintenance over the long haul. Once the house is done the idea is that we enjoy living in it and not spending all of our time painting and re-finishing, etc. Let the building age with the site. Let the home become part of the landscape. Let the home and landscape be one. Perhaps its wishful thinking but its part of our story and our wishes and in our case architect, client and contractor are all on the same page. There are plenty of LEED projects that seem excessive. I once saw a 7500 sq. ft home on HGTV that was LEED certified. How does 7500 sq. ft. LEED certified make sense from a sustainable point of view?

[John Livengood]

I think you've mentioned this before, Lou. But LEED is the ultimate green "badge" if you're really interested in a green badge. If I'm a home developer these days, I think LEED makes a lot of sense because it's like the Underwriter's Laboratory verification of being sustainable. Same is true in commercial developments. I think it makes a lot more sense.

But for an individual homeowner, I think it really only makes sense if you are doing it purely out of principle -- to make the community a little more aware of the standards that come with LEED certification. If you can afford to do that and not have it be a trade-off for actually using more sustainable products in your project, then go for it. For most people, I just don't think it makes sense -- at least not the way it's configured today.

[lou maxon]

On the commercial side, the City of Kent features one of the first LEED certified sports arenas in the country?
ShoWare Center is the first and only sports and entertainment facility in the U.S. designed and constructed to LEED® GOLD Certification standards. Here are just a few enviable facts:

* ShoWare Center will save 380,000 gallons of water each year – that’s the equivalent of over 3 million 16 oz. cups with the installation of dual-flush toilets andl low-flow fixtures.
* Use of efficient Energy efficient lighting, HVAC and other facility operating systems reduce predicted energy use by more than 37% compared to national standards.
* 90% of all construction debris was recycled.
* More than 50% of all wood used in the building came from sustainably managed forests.
* In-building sensors monitor air quality and “fresh air” is delivered when needed.
* Facility landscaping uses only native plants that require no watering once established.
* Special onsite parking is reserved for drivers of low-emitting/fuel efficient vehicles & carpools of four or more passengers.

[Greg Lotakis]

Anchorage, Alaska is going to establish a LEED Silver standard for all public buildings as of this year. Noble, but after reviewing the checklist with an architect on a current project for work I realize quickly that points can add up and they don't necessarily add up to being sustainable.

Without being too much of a critic we have to start somewhere and our buildings produce almost half of our greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. (http://www.usgbc.org/News/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?ID=3124)

I like the green labeling/standards for home construction (http://www.builtgreen.net/) and hope that in the near future any potential carbon tax or cap and trade revenue can offset taxes on those that have built green.

[Matthew Coates]

this is a great topic!   and one which needs a lot of discussion in my opinion.

I am generally a strong proponent for LEED (or any other system) because it gives us a goal to shoot for.  without it i have seen countless projects fall into the slippery slope realm of making compromises and ultimately falling short of initial project goals.  The various rating systems, LEED included< help us avoid that scenario. 

 

Regarding Lou's mind bending question of how a 7,500 sf home can be LEED certified, i have two comments:  1.  certified is nothing...meet code and you are 90% there.  2. if the LEED certification was actually under LEED-H (for homes) then it means more than if it was under LEED-NC (new construction) - since LEED-H requires greater points to be acquired for homes over a certain size...and 7,500 sf is WAY out of the limits...so my guess is it was an old certification under LEED-NC.  the new system would make that unlikely. 

 

Matthew Coates

Coates Design Architects, Seattle |Bainbridge Island